Super Bowl A Super Test To Longwood's Cirillo

January 24, 1986|By Russ White of The Sentinel Staff

NBC estimates approximately 116 million people will watch all or a portion of Super Bowl XX Sunday. The numbers are planted firmly in Larry Cirillo's head. He's the man who is producing the telecast for NBC.

Cirillo, 49, knows he is sitting in a fish bowl.

''This is a one-shot thing,'' he said. ''It's not like the World Series, where you have as many as seven games. Or Wimbledon, where they play for two weeks. The Super Bowl is one shot only -- and you better make it good.

''I don't care how long any of us have been in the business, but with this game you definitely get goose bumps. You don't go into it blase.''

NBC has $11 million worth of electronic gear for the game, including 21 cameras, 14 replay machines, two machines for on-air graphics, one video chalkboard machine and seven miles of camera and audio cable. An average of six cameras are used for live shots on each play.

The equipment can do wonders, but it takes professionals like Cirillo to produce the ultimate sports telecast of the year -- a super Super Bowl.

Cirillo, who lives in Longwood, was born and raised in New York. He started with NBC radio in 1961, switched to TV in 1966 and has been a producer since 1975.

Sunday's game will be Cirillo's third Super Bowl.

He likens a good TV production to a good football team. ''Our work has to have guts, has to come up big on all the plays.''

Cirillo's two major assigmnents at NBC are pro golf and pro football. On golf he says he is more of an editor than a producer. ''I have to do a lot of editing when we do golf events like the Bob Hope Classic. There are 18 holes and 75 or more players, and I choose which player, which hole we go live to. We have to edit in the other action.

''There can be no such editor's call in football. There's one field and one ball. Experience is very important, of course, so our entire team knows what the keys are. That's where I feel we really get the most out of a game. Analysts Merlin Olsen and Bob Griese are so thorough.

''Dick Enberg is the best play-by-play guy in the business and he's terrific to work with. He's a talented man without the big ego. Olsen and Griese are the same solid kind of guys.

''Our broadcast team can endure the worst kind of game, which I'm not so sure the other networks can do. CBS analyst John Madden can wear pretty thin if there's a blowout.''